Acqua Alta

The merchant families have ruled the waves of the eastern Mediterranean for 900 years. Glittering palaces and marble piazzas shimmer across the surface of indigo waters, rising from the lagoon like a mirage. Brash men and cunning women, noble priests and sultry courtesans, shrewd sailors and deadly rogues: all have made their homes in The Floating City above the brackish waters of the bay, carving out dynasties while glass-blowers, lace-weavers, and artists bring beauty to the world.

But times are changing. The families bicker for control while outside powers erode at Terraferma. Discoveries in the west disrupt the monopoly of silk and spice. The threads of fate lie tangled; the destiny of the Republic is now as murky as the waters of late winter tide. Into this fray step a sailor, a scoundrel, and a foreign-born witch. Will they keep their heads above the flood or drown in the Acqua Alta?